1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, in general, to buildings and, more specifically, to steeples for mounting on the roofs of buildings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Previously, steeples for buildings, churches and the like have been fabricated at the building site. In most cases, substantially all of the construction takes place directly on the roof of the building. This has resulted in high construction and labor costs for such steeples.
Prefabricated steeples have also been utilized in which substantially all of the steeple is manufactured and assembled at a remote manufacturing site and then shipped to the building site and installed on the roof of the building. While this construction method substantially reduces construction time and the attendant labor costs, it presents other problems involving the shipping of the lengthy, bulky, completed steeple and the necessity for hoisting the completed steeple onto the roof of the building. Both of these factors have tended to offset the cost reductions attained by the use of prefabricating construction techniques.
As illustrated by the steeple disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,626, it has also been proposed to construct a steeple of light-weight pre-manufactured components which can be assembled at the building site thereby attaining the benefits of prefabricated construction techniques and reduced shipping and assembly costs.
However, the latter disclosed steeple is not without its drawbacks. For one, the outer panels are secured to the inner frame structure by molding members whose flanges slide over complimentary flanges formed on the edges of the outer panels to telescopingly mount the panels on the inner frame structure. The flanges on the panels must be prefabricated which, due to available manufacturing equipment, limits the length of such panels. As a result, several panels must be mounted above each other to construct a high steeple and, which increases the number of components that must be shipped and assembled to form the steeple.
Secondly, the flanges on the molding members and outer panels are subject to damage during shipping which could render these components unusable at the building site, thereby resulting in construction delays and added material costs.
Due to variations in construction of the inner frame structure, the length of the flange of the outer panels that is present at the edges of the frame does not always correspond to the width of the frame thereby resulting in insufficient mounting support of the panels on the frame and unsightly gaps in the outer surface of the steeple.
Finally, such a steeple is attached to the roof by coupling members which are adjusted to the inclination of the roof. This, however, requires that the entire steeple be assembled on the roof before the final attachment to the roof is attempted. At best, this is a difficult and time consuming task due to the weight and height of the steeple.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a steeple which overcomes the problems encountered with previously devised steeples. It would also be desirable to provide a steeple which is constructed of a plurality of lightweight components which can be easily transported to the building site and quickly and easily assembled in a complete steeple. It would also be desirable to provide a steeple which can be easily adjusted to a substantially perfect vertical orientation on the roof, despite the variations in the frame construction of the steeple and/or the inclination of the roof. Finally, it would be desirable to provide a steeple which requires single length outer panels, despite the height of the steeple.